Microsoft SwiftKey


Microsoft SwiftKey is a virtual keyboard app originally developed by TouchType for Android and iOS devices. It was first released for Android in July 2010, followed by an iOS release in September 2014 after Apple allowed third-party keyboard support.
SwiftKey learns from previous typed text and outputs predictions based on currently inputted text and what it has learned.

History

The company behind SwiftKey was founded in 2008 by Jon Reynolds, Ben Medlock and Chris Hill-Scott. Its head office is at the Microsoft offices in Paddington, London, and other offices are located in San Francisco, US, and Seoul, South Korea.
In September 2013, SwiftKey announced a series B finance round totaling $17.5 million and led by Index Ventures along with Octopus Investments and Accel Partners.
In May 2014, SwiftKey hired James Bromley as COO.
In February 2016, SwiftKey was purchased by Microsoft, for $250 million.

Overview

The Prediction Engine used allows SwiftKey to learn from usage and improve predictions. This feature allows the tool to improve with usage, learning from SMS, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and an RSS feed.

Beta

SwiftKey was first released as a beta in the Android Market on 14 July 2010, supporting seven languages. It included a variety of settings to adjust audio feedback volume and length of haptic feedback vibration. It was announced on SwiftKey's official website on 15 May 2014, that a Japanese version was out in beta. People registered on SwiftKey VIP were able to download the beta version.

SwiftKey X

On 14 July 2011, SwiftKey X was released to the Android Market as an upgrade to SwiftKey. Along with new and updated features, SwiftKey X introduced a dedicated app for tablets, called SwiftKey Tablet X. The updates included:
The SwiftKey 3 update was released on 21 June 2012, including:
The SwiftKey 4 update was released on 20 February 2013, including:
The SwiftKey 5 update was released in June 2014, including:
The SwiftKey 6 update was released in November 2015, including:
The SwiftKey 7.0 update was released in March 2018, including:
Swiftkey released an iOS application on 30 January 2014, called Swiftkey Note, that incorporates its predictive typing technology as a custom toolbar attached to the top of the regular iOS keyboard.
Starting with iOS 8, released in the second half of 2014, the operating system enables and support third party keyboards use. SwiftKey confirmed that it was working on a keyboard replacement app.
Starting with iOS 13, the system keyboard comes with a built in QuickPath mechanism. Working the same say as SwiftKey.

SwiftKey for iPhone

SwiftKey Keyboard for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch launched in September 2014 to coincide with the launch of Apple's iOS8 update. It was unveiled at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.
The app includes the word prediction and autocorrection features, familiar to the Android product, SwiftKey Cloud backup and sync and personalization, and a choice of color themes.
It reached No. 1 in the free US App Store charts and the company confirmed it had been downloaded more than 1 million times on the first day of launch.

Further development

On 27 February 2012, the SwiftKey SDK was launched. This allows developers on multiple platforms and programming languages to access SwiftKey's core language-engine technology for their own UI or virtual keyboard.
In June 2012, SwiftKey released a specialized version of its keyboard called SwiftKey Healthcare. It is a virtual keyboard for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices that offers next-word predictions based on real-world clinical data. In October 2012 SwiftKey Healthcare won the Appsters Award for Best Enterprise App 2012.
In April 2016 SwiftKey released a keyboard that emulated William Shakespeare's speech called ShakeSpeak celebrating the 400th year of the author's death. The app was co-developed with VisitLondon.com to promote more tourism to the metropolitan area of London.
Microsoft released SwiftKey for Windows 10 along with Windows 10 October 2018 Update.
In May 2020, the app was rebranded as Microsoft SwiftKey to reflect its present ownership.

Controversy

In 2015 NowSecure reported SwiftKey Keyboard vulnerability exclusive for pre-installed version in Samsung devices, the issue occurred when the keyboard attempts to update its language pack. Samsung has since released security and firmware update to mitigate the issue. However, TechCrunch published an article on why the issue happened because of how Samsung implemented the keyboard system on its devices.
In 2016 SwiftKey users began reporting personal details given by SwiftKey as suggested words to other users whom does not have previous connections, other issue includes foreign language and obscene words. SwiftKey responded by disabling cloud sync for word suggestion and released an update to mitigate the issue.

Awards

SwiftKey has received multiple awards, including: